________________
98
(VIII)
(Tapa-gaccha)
Bhattaraka Hiravijaya süri
Bhattaraka Vijayasena sūri
Bhattaraka Vijayadeva sūri A.D. 1619 (Insc. 145, 146, 147, 148, 149)
Pandita Kusalasāgara gaṇī A.D. 1619 (Insc. 146, 147, 148, 149)
The earliest inscription in the Neminatha caitya, A.D. 1135 (Insc. 79) mentions Vijayasimhäcärya of Devācārya-gaccha. Probably, the Devācārya of 11th century, the pontiff of the Bṛhad-gaccha, may have been implied here.
And one inscription from the Neminatha temple, of A.D. 1330 (Insc. 128), mentions Jinabhadra süri of the Rudrapalliya-gaccha. (This gaccha was an off-shoot of the Kharatara-gaccha.)
The Temples in Kumbhariyā
Several inscriptions mention the names of the pontiffs/friars who had consecrated the images, but no particulars are recorded in regard to their gacchas, and in most cases not even their hagiology is given.
1.
2.
An inscription of A.D. 1091 (Insc. 15) in the Mahävira temple names. 'Mānatunga sūri' as the pontiff involved, but no other particulars are noted. Aside from the early or post-Gupta Manatungācārya of the 'Bhaktamara-stotra' fame, at least four other pontiffs bearing the same appellation are known but they all belong to the medieval period. Of these four, the earliest figuring in the encomium of a manuscript of the Yogaśastra of Hemacandra-the encomium dated A.D. 1236mentions Padmadeva süri of Candra-gaccha whose sixth predecessor in the hagiological sequence is Manatunga. Now, this Manatunga's date on computation seems to fall in the bracket c. A.D. 1060-1100. Hence it is he who plausibly may be the one involved in Kumbhäriyä context.
Jain Education International
The two A.D. 1120 epigraphs (Insc. 17 and 18) in the Mahāvīra temple name 'Padmadeva süri'. Three other medieval pontiffs bearing the same name are known
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